I. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a knock down gate rail assembly. More particularly, the present invention relates to a gate adapted to be combined with a hand rail system having a polymerized sheath extending about the rails of the assembly and further including a gate pivotable about itself to allow access to a guarded area.
II. Description of the Relevant Art
Typically, a hand rail assembly is often formed of metal bars having horizontal and vertical rails permanently affixed to each other to create a hand rail system. A disadvantage of these previously known structures is that the metal rail may rust from being exposed to the environment. A further disadvantage of a metal hand rail is that any damage done to a single rail will cause irreparable damage to the entire hand rail assembly. The whole assembly must then be replaced or repainted to prevent the metal from rusting.
A still further disadvantage of these hand rail assemblies is that the gate provided to allow access to the guarded area is also generally formed of metal bars having horizontal and vertical rails permanently affixed to each other to create a gate. Like the hand rail, the gate metal may rust from being exposed to the environment. A further disadvantage of a metal gate is that it may readily separate from the metal hand rail causing damage to the assembly. The gate must then be replaced or repainted to prevent the metal from rusting.
A still further disadvantage of these previously known hand rail assemblies with gates is that once assembled the hand rail is a permanent fixture. Therefore, parts of the hand rail that may be structurally damaged cannot readily be removed and replaced. Nor can additional gates be added or location change of the gate assembly be made without replacing the whole hand rail system.